If you ever wondered what a Bond film would look like made by students - well, here it is.



AWESOME, NO. Unfortunately, we haven't filmed half the scenes, and the guy playing Bond (or Banner, as he's known in this) didn't get back into the university this year, sooooo either we film it whatever weekends he can come up, or Bond undergoes dramatic facial reconstruction surgery.

Also, I'm making a profound effort not to blog about every TV show I watch this year - which has been especially difficult with How I Met Your Mother and Supernatural, both of which are bringing their A-game this season - but oddly enough it's been MOST difficult with Merlin of all shows! It's just being AWESOME! AND NEXT WEEK LOOKS SO MUCH FUN OMG.



PS: Oh, and my classes for next year are all set - I'm doing both Akkadian AND Ancient Greek for beginners, since my lecturer believed I could manage them without going insane, and Preservation & Transmission of Information in the Ancient World. I'm also doing the Classical Research training module and my dissertation, of course, and auditing a whole bunch for funsies.

Goodbye social life.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SEFOAGBNSDRBGSELANFVKLSALVDFLBFNTNEBGFERGETTGRHYTJASERBHES.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH.

brb flailing.

Yes, they're here again. I'm totally going to have to write another full-length novel this summer. Sigh. First year it was the Apocalypse, last year it was vampires, this year it looks like it's going to be demons. Plot is already half-done in my head, I love all the characters, their pasts and relationships will probably finish off the plot pretty well, there's room for far more stories, and it's all ready to GO - I just have to finish my exams first. TWO WEEKS!

One problem of being in fandom? It makes you look at all stories you write through the eyes of the ever-judging internet. My biggest fear is of being labelled not feminist enough. I mean, I try to write strong female characters, but every time I try to write a romance or have a heroine NOT be able to deal with everything that's thrown at her, I just start having horrifying visions of the Fandom!Secrets going "OMGGG WHY DOES THIS AUTHOR HATE WOMEN". But I want characters like Robin Sherbatsky, not Bella Swan. I LOVE strong female characters, but Mary-Sues, I want to burn with fire. They've got to have flaws, not the Single Flaw, and not be perfect, and make mistakes.

OK, I'm unabashedly procrastinating, so let's look at my favourite strong female characters.

( I'll restrict myself to five. Picspam! )

I guess what they all have in common is they're a) smart, b) kick-ass, and c) can hold their own in a crowd of boys without excessive romantic pining, or at least romantic interests that get in the way of what needs to be done. *takes notes*

OK. Need to get back to revision now. Oops. STUPID PLOT BUNNIES.

Since it's St George's Day (and I'm meeting up with Beccy later for English food-eating and Sharpe-watching and general Britishness) I tried to think of a very English icon to use. I toyed with one of my Doctor Who ones - probably one of the British-est shows out there, and third on the list of English-est things we could watch, after Hornblower and before Love Actually - but settled on this one for general implied themes of monarchy, literature and AWESOMENESS.

Anyway.

I may be done with one of my essays. I mean, it's 2000 words of semi-coherent argument on what was a wishy-washy topic in the first place (the different functions of magic and religion in Roman society, should've been more interesting than it was), and while it IS summative, it's only 30%, while my other two summatives are 50% and 70%. The only reason I did this one first was it's due in first, and I've already half-plotted out the other two. I probably could make it a bit better, but I'm going to spend some time on the other two first. So, yay?

Definite yay is that I just bought a metric fuckton of soup from Tescos, and ALSO, bacon. As in, a pre-cooked joint rather than slices. The sort of delicious which you mean to get out of the packet and put on a plate, but it somehow gets lost in your mouth en route. YAY FOOD.

OH MAN. I have to take Thunderbirds tonight as well. I've been procrastalginating watching that with MattMatt, and it's one of those great shows which is actually just as good rewatching as you remembered from when you were a kid. Though we do have a little too much fun looking for signs that Virgil is gay and John is on the brink of a breakdown.

Also, Gordon was a bit rubbish. We never knew.

I'm home. It makes everything - even plague, even essay and exam stress - so much better.

But there are confusing things about Dollhouse going on - io9 can't quite seem to tell whether it's cancelled or they're just not airing the finale for whatever reason. (vague spoilers at the post). It's all very muddling, but I get the feeling that somewhere, somehow, FOX are being jerks.

It makes me sad (along with the confused). I'd just gotten into Dollhouse!! They can't cancel it NOW!

So, my friend Jackie just got to watch the first episode of Ashes to Ashes on BBC America.

.... They gave Gene Hunt subtitles, so the Americans could understand what he was saying.

LOLWUUUUT.

If my weekly squee has not been enough encouragement - people who haven't seen this? WATCH IT.

( Yeah. Flail. )

Oh man. It is SO ON.

I've had a rough couple of days. Essay stress is getting to me. But hopefully the end is in sight, or rather, a more manageable way of doing it is in sight, so, yay, I guess.

Of course, the best cure for this is chinese takeaway - honestly, I was so eager for it I was nomming a spring roll before I'd even got the rest out of the bag - and TV shows.

( Supernatural - After School Special )

( Being Human )

In other news, I got a part in Wyrd Sisters! Sadly not one of the main roles, but several small ones.

Yes, I've just taken on yet another commitment when I'm already really busy. Yes, I'm ridiculous.


PS: Just got an e-mail from my Latin lecturer. Apparently, she singled me out for praise for 'excellent work' in a review of the progress of our class, because of the presentation I did on death as a motif in Cena Trimalchionis! This is the first time I've felt good at my subject since I came to university!

My housemate MattMatt asked me to recap this episode for him. 45 minutes of non-stop typing, without pausing. I'm EXHAUSTED.

( Maybe he smelled bad BECAUSE HE LOVED YOU! )

OMG.

I DID NOT NOTICE THAT THE BLONDE GIRL WITH DADDY ISSUES IN THE LATEST HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER WAS PLAYED BY *~*YOUNG MARY WINCHESTER*~*!

THE CROSSOVER 'HOW I MET THE YELLOW-EYED DEMON WHO KILLED YOUR MOTHER' JUST BECAME *~*THAT MUCH MORE POSSIBLE!!!*~*

OK, I'm going to get back to serious work now.

OH. MY. GOD.

BARNEY, WOULD YOU QUIT BREAKING MY HEART LIKE YOU BROKE THOSE TELEVISIONS??!?!?!!?

I'VE REWATCHED THE LAST SCENE, LIKE, FIVE TIMES ALREADY.

So... Matt Smith as the new Doctor. No idea who the hell he is, was at first intimidated by his nose, but he looked like he could pull this off in the few clips they played of him in previous TV shows. Plus, I trust the casting people, and I think I'd trust Steven Moffat with my soul, so I'm cool with it.

Also saw the first episode of Demons, which... I must be getting old, because my first out-loud comment on it was "Is he EVER going to put his shirt on?" Don't know why they felt the need to make Phil Glenister American, the friend annoyed me, but I loved MacKenzie Crook as a vampire (VERY different from Edward Cullen) and Mina Harker shows potential to become kick-ass. Although I must admit I somewhat resent it because it took the 'descendants of Van Helsing fighting vampires today' idea RIGHT WHEN I WAS ABOUT TO USE IT. Damn. At least my vampire story is very different in tone.

It won't be stealing any of my love from Merlin or hopeful love from Doctor Who, but it'll fill my Saturday night sci-fi slot nicely.

My cousins came round today! For Christmas 2: Turkey Boogaloo, since I'd been too busy being ill on actual Christmas to eat anything. And Jesus Petrelli, one of them has sprouted. He's taller than me now, and his voice has broken, and when he gets to university in a couple of years he is going to have girls ALL OVER HIM. For serious.

Back to Durham tomorrow! Very sad to be leaving home already, having food (and VEGETABLES) cooked for me never gets old. But I'll be back in a couple of weeks for one night, since I'm meeting ibroketuesday in London. EEEEEEEE.




PS: I'm also almost completely through the first season of Chuck, which my mum gave me for Christmas. GUYS, WHY DID NONE OF YOU TELL ME HOW AWESOME IT IS???

I finally, FINALLY tracked down the title of this old TV show I used to love!

So it was about this cop, called Jeff Slade, who always wore the same clothes for some reason, who had a scientist friend Holly who'd invented a time machine in her apartment (as you do) and so they use it to travel back in time and solve murders (as you would). Many wacky adventures ensue, such as trying not to meet themselves and the time Slade's desperately trying to get hold of a lottery ticket so he can win millions to repair the time machine in the future, and the best bit was always when they had to explain how the murder happened without mentioning the time machine. "My god, Slade! How did you work out something so complex and unexpected?" "Uhhhh... the lamppost was bent. Yeah, that's it." It was like a cross between Doctor Who and Jonathan Creek and it was AWESOME.

I've been thinking about this show for a while now, because it's probably the first sci-fi show I really loved as a kid, but I couldn't remember the name of it for the life of me. Until this evening, when I got the bright idea to google 'Slade time travel cop BBC'.

And the title?

'Crime Traveller'.

My young self was so much nerdier than I ever knew.



PS: I found the opening credits on youtube!!



Oh, SHOW. With your sleazy sax theme tune and floating clocks and random negative-exposure blinking eye at the end. COME OUT ON DVD.


PPS: OMG IT **IS** OUT ON DVD!!!

I could just draw a big, big heart around this episode.

( The Gates of Avalon )

In other news, I think I may just be able to resist doing NaNoWriMo. But now that I've actually come up with a plot, I feel bad for the plot. It kinda sucks.

As Heroes has betrayed me, I will start talking about THIS show instead!

( Lancelot )

... unless you're still jetlagged, as I am, and so wake up at 5am and find yourself downstairs watching a Creationism vs Evolution debate on TV (NB: Christians, when you're going up against Richard Dawkins, just... just go home) and wondering what the hell else you can do at that hour.

Streaming works FAST first thing in the morning :D

In order of Awesome Factor:

( How I Met Your Mother )

( Supernatural )

( Heroes )

In other news, my new favourite activity is listening to the Backstreet Boys and imagining which character in Twilight would be singing them at what time. Most of the time, it's Edward.